05 December 2006

Dennis Prager, CAIR, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

CAIR'S COMEDIANS

Islamist Group Again Targets Talk Radio

Ever hear the one about the Islamist who walks into a bar?

Neither have we, but then again, we've never been accused of possessing especially strong comedic skills. Nor have the folks at the free speech- suppressing Council on American- Islamic Relations, but they apparently didn't get the memo.

When making these outrageous demands regarding syndicated talk show host Dennis Prager, was somebody at CAIR testing a stand- up routine?

Perhaps it's a tryout for the slot formerly held by Michael Richards.

Group Requests Removal Of Ellison Critic

(AP) WASHINGTON An Islamic civil rights group said Monday that a columnist who criticized Rep.-elect Keith Ellison's decision to use the Quran during his ceremonial swearing-in should be removed from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the comments by Dennis Prager, a columnist and conservative talk radio host, displayed an intolerance toward Islam that make him an inappropriate person to serve on the council.

Ellison, D-Minn., is the first Muslim elected to Congress.

In his column last week, Prager wrote: "Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress."

The Holocaust Memorial Council oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

"No one who holds such bigoted, intolerant and divisive views should be in a policymaking position at a taxpayer-funded institution that seeks to educate Americans about the destructive impact hatred has had, and continues to have, on every society," CAIR's executive director, Nihad Awad, wrote in a letter to the council's chairman, Fred Zeidman.

Prager, Ellison and the Holocaust council did not immediately return phone messages Monday.

Come to think of it, they're pretty funny over at the AP as well, aren't they? CAIR is a civil rights group? That's even better than Islamists lecturing others about tolerance.

And last we'd checked, it was CAIR's jihadist friends in Iran and elsewhere who were busy denying the Holocaust had ever occurred! So why are they worried about the Holocaust Memorial Council's image?

Nonetheless, as this story was carried nationwide on the AP wire yesterday and subsequentlypicked upby a numberof publications, it represented a major shot in the arm for Prager, who has been quiet for so long we'd forgotten he was still on the air.

What isn't so funny, however, is CAIR's increasing habit of targeting radio talk show hosts with its Islamist Death Ray. In Washington DC, we've already seen the seeming control the group now has over ABC talker WMAL- AM.

And clearly, CAIR is now searching for additional prey. Will they succeed in picking off Dennis Prager?

ALSO: Mary Katherine Ham has a full rundown and timeline of events in the Prager controversy here. Michelle Malkin includes a new Muslim flap here. And more from MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

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Dennis Prager’s argument that Representative-Elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, should not be permitted to take his oath of office on a Koran is, intolerant, misinformed and downright un-American.

Prager is flat-out wrong when he asserts that Representative Ellison’s use of a Koran would be “damaging to the fabric of American civilization.” To the contrary, the U.S. Constitution guarantees that, “no religious test shall ever be required” to hold public office in America. Members of Congress, like all Americans, should be free to observe their own religious practices without government interference or coercion.

Prager’s patriotic prattling is misinformed on the facts, too. No Member of Congress is officially sworn in with a Bible. Under House rules, the official swearing-in ceremony is done in the House chambers, with the Speaker of the House administering the oath of office en masse. No Bibles or other holy books are used at all. Members may, if they choose, also have a private ceremony with family and friends. At these unofficial ceremonies, Members frequently solemnize the event by taking an oath while holding a personal family Bible.

Prager ridiculously asserts that permitting Rep. Ellison to take the oath of office would “be doing more damage to the unity of America and to the value system that has formed this country than the terrorists of 9-11.” What he fails to understand is that what truly unifies all Americans is a value system built on religious freedom and pluralism, not dogmatism and coercion.

Prager presents intolerant, ugly views. His comparison of Ellison’s desire to “choose his favorite book” to that of the right of a racist elected to public office to use Hitler’s Mein Kampf is outrageous. If Prager were merely a blogger and radio talk-show host trying to be relevant and provocative, these views might not merit a response. But as a newly-appointed member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, Prager and his views must be held to a higher standard.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.